New Homeland Security Chairman Thinks NYT Should Be Indicted For Espionage

Glynnis MacNicol

Jan. 5, 2011, 3:10 PM

It goes without saying the Rep. Peter King (R-NY) has never been one to shy away from uttering an outrageous soundbite (he's usually first to the camera, if at all possible).

But he is also the incoming Chairman of the Homeland Security Commission (a position he held from 2005-2007) and his recent announcement that he intends to begin hearings on Muslim-American radicalization has been met with much concern.

Most recently from the NYT which published a scathing editorial this weekend warning King that "Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security is a very serious job. Mr. King needs to get serious"

Apparently King is serious about the New York Times (with whom he has long had a contentious relationship). At least he sounds serious about wanting to indite them under the espionage act. Here's what King told the Hill yesterday.

"I'm absolutely delighted that The New York Times would attack me," he said in an interview with The Hill. "I have nothing but contempt for them. They should be indicted under the Espionage Act. … The New York Times is just basically being a mouthpiece for political correctness."

According to the Hill King is referring to "an article it published a few years ago about the government's secret tracking of terrorist financing that relied on cooperation with U.S. and international banks" and not the recent WikiLeaks articles, though he has recently called for them to be prosecuted for that also.